In such heat exchangers, the perforated plate receives a plurality of tubes forming a bundle of parallel tubes through which a first fluid (usually water) passes to exchange heat with a second fluid (usually air) which is in contact with fins on the outsides of the tubes. Each tube has at least one open end which is received in the perforated plate. The perforated plate and the basin together constitute a collector chamber relative to the remainder of the water circuit.
Such heat exchangers are constructed in very large numbers.
The present invention applies to such joints using a deformable gasket made of rubber or like material and comprising at least a fillet or rim suitable for interposing between the interfitting rims of a basin and a plate. The invention is particularly, but not exclusively, applicable to gaskets for use in heat exchangers required by the automobile industry, and may be used to seal a perforated plate and a basin, or to seal a partition plate inside a basin to divide the basin into two chambers.
Very many shapes have been proposed for such gaskets, but there still remain difficulties due to the facts that efforts are continually being made to lighten the components of heat exchangers, and in particular the basin, and that motor vehicle manufacturers are continuously tightening their specifications, eg. by requiring higher internal pressures (both static and dynamic) for the fluid flowing along the tubes, or by requiring longer service life.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention reduce such difficulties while at the same time making important contributions to facilitating manufacture of heat exchangers, to reducing their cost, and to making them safer in operation.
In one aspect, the invention applies to a sealed joint using a gasket having a rim which, before being compressed, is relatively large in the direction of compression.